Ask TheMetetron about living in or visiting Buenos Aires

[diebitter]

Any idea how Argentinians feel about the British now the Falklands war is now 25 years gone?

It always struck me that of the South American countries, Argentina seems to have cultural influences from the English (while many other SA countries are Spanish of Portugeuse influenced). Is this a correct perception?

[TheMetetron]

Argentine's still aren't too happy about the whole thing and they don't call it the Falklands Islands. In fact, mentioning it by that name over here is going to get you an angry mob.

Argentina has some cultural influences from the English, but it mostly comes from their Spanish and Italian roots. Then probably the German and French with the English after that. So yes, they are an influence, but not a large one.

[Damien]

What's the surrounding countryside like? Lots of pampas, or is it all grazing land? Do you see those guys who throw those balls or a rope (boleros?)?

[Golden_Rhino]

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Any idea how Argentinians feel about the British now the Falklands war is now 25 years gone?

It always struck me that of the South American countries, Argentina seems to have cultural influences from the English (while many other SA countries are Spanish of Portugeuse influenced). Is this a correct perception?

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Falkland? Not familiar with that term. I think you are referring to las islas malvinas.

[LuckyDevil]

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Have you looked into buying real estate? Can foreigners do it? Do you think it is/would be a good investment?

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Yes, you can, but you have to through some processes first. I intend to do it at some point as buying a place is cheap compared to what it rents to foreigners for. For example the place I rent for $1,000/mo or so definitely didn't cost the owner over $100k... probably even less.


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Can you go into more detail on the "hoops" you have to go through to buy a place?

Also, you mentioned earlier in the thread that the only places foreigners can get are furnished, you can't rent unfurnished. Why is that?

[myhappyplace]

I was thinking about moving to argentina with my BF but was wondering if (I know I am prob just a retard) it is a safe place for a white chick to wander around by herself or if I would have to bring him everytime I went anywhere?

[MrBlue]

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I was thinking about moving to argentina with my BF but was wondering if (I know I am prob just a retard) it is a safe place for a white chick to wander around by herself or if I would have to bring him everytime I went anywhere?

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There are plenty of white chicks walking around BA. Porteñas (locals) are very European looking probably because they are mostly descendants of Europeans! Not too many blondes though.

[MrBlue]

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Also, you mentioned earlier in the thread that the only places foreigners can get are furnished, you can't rent unfurnished. Why is that?

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This is because the laws there are very favorable towards renters. If they need to go through the eviction process legally, it could be tied up in the courts for years. So the effect of this is that landlords require guarantors for long term renters. Guarantors must own property in Buenos Aires so most foreigners are out of luck.

To answer your question more directly, no short term renter is going to rent an unfurnished apartment. So most, if not all, unfurnished apartments will go for 1-2 year leases. However, most foreigners are wealthy by BA standards so you may be able to negotiate with some landlords w/o a guarantor.

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I think all this talk about buying a place is premature for anyone that's never been to BA. If you go and look at the furniture stores there, you'll notice that the 'good' stuff are all imported and are not cheap. They cost almost as much as US prices. Some stuff you can't even get in BA w/o special order. 2 years ago, I was thinking of investing in real estate in BA. After running all the numbers, I was better off investing in AAA corp bonds and using the dividends to finance my trips and apartment rentals.

Also be aware that the gov't there is cracking down on common practice of listing the value of the home below the actual sale price. They are making it difficult for foreigners to repatriate their investment by applying various taxes and other red tape.

Bah, more editing.

I don't remember if it was already mentioned in the thread but all real estate transactions are conducted in cold hard cash. In order to bring the money into the country, you'd need to wire the money into a peso account before taking it all out in dollars. If you're buying a 100k place, you'll be bringing a suitcase of hundreds in USD. You'll also lose 1-2% in exchange rates due to the spread. This is a horribly inefficient system.

There is no MLS like the US. There are tons of pitfalls that I'm sure other expats will tell you. Not to mention that 2002 could happen again. On the bright side, personal property has never been seized by the gov't in the history of Argentina.

[RoundTower]

This is the travel forum now?

I fractured my leg three days ago while travelling. I´m now planning to stay in Buenos Aires for 2 weeks, while my friends travel to Patagonia. I should be mobile on crutches in a day or two but won´t be doing much sightseeing or anything that involves intensive walking.

Two questions here.
1. anything you can recommend for me to do here in this condition?
2. I may just set up an office in an internet cafe and play poker for a week or so. Can you recommend anywhere? I´m staying near the centre of town but can get a taxi to anywhere.

I haven´t read the rest of the thread yet, as time is short, but I should have a lot of time to do so over the next few days.